The Chairman of the Makeni Community Youth Organization (MCYO), Paul Ngegba, and three others are reportedly on the run after receiving countless death threats from family members of those who were killed during the 18 July 2020 riots. They are being accused of inciting the youths which led to the deaths of their loved ones for which they want to avenge their deaths.
Paul Ngegba and three others are also said to have been accused by the Sierra Leone Police (SLP) of inciting thousands of youths to go on the rampage on the streets of Makeni which caused the loss of lives and the destruction of property.
The SLP is claiming that on 18 July 2020, Paul Ngegba in his capacity as MCYO Chairman and three others: Sorie Koroma who is the Chairman of the Makeni Bike Riders’ Union, Peter Sesay the Chairman of the Makeni Ataya Base, and Amadu Jalloh the Chairman of the Makeni Kekeh Riders’ Union incited the youth of Makeni to physically stop government authorities from removing a generator plant for onward relocation to Lungi Township.
It is being alleged that after a meeting called by the Resident Minister North-East Region, Abu Abu Koroma, with some stakeholders from the Makeni Township and officials from the Ministry of Energy to explain the rationale behind the removal of the generator plant from Makeni to Lungi Township; it is alleged that Paul Ngegba and others went to the local radio station and incited the youths to stop the relocation of the generator.
It was after this incident that Paul Ngegba and the three others began receiving death threats from angry family members of those who were killed, accusing them of being responsible for those killings.
When the death threats became persistent, Paul Ngegba and the three others went into hiding and their whereabouts are still unknown as of the time of going to press.